Money, Power, Politics, by Joyce Purnick: on Homeland Security

Mike Bloomberg: 1960s: Rejected as "1Y" when volunteering for Vietnam

He was still subject to call-up by his hometown draft board, whose recruiting quota had tripled. Yet the board also invoked the flat feet and classified him as "1Y"--draftable only in a national emergency. How the board learned about the flat feet without ordering its own medical exam remains a mystery. Bloomberg insists he was not the source, and the officer training program would not normally be.

Asked a few more questions about his draft board's decision, he suddenly tore off his loafers and stood in stocking feet. "Look, those are my feet," he said, his voice rising. "Do you see an arch?" Indeed he has no arches.